# Dörtje Elverdink — Master Flea character guide

> Dörtje Elverdink in Master Flea by E. T. A. Hoffmann.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the lovely Dörtje, Dörtje, the little Dörtje Elverdink, the fair Dörtje Elverdink, tripped Dörtje Elverdink

**First appearance:** 0000-i-first-adventure

## Snapshot

The lovely, capricious Dörtje Elverdink sends Peregrine a hundred kisses and draws him helplessly back into the very rooms he has sworn to flee.

## Who they are

Dörtje is the beautiful young woman lodged in Swammerdam's chambers, whose silver voice and easy affection make her the fixed point of Peregrine's desire and the chief obstacle to his resolutions. Master Flea warns that she is as capricious as the wind and that loving her could cost Peregrine his reason, as it apparently cost the Thistle Zeherit, yet her charm is precisely what makes the warning so hard to heed. She matters because she embodies the story's central contest between clear-eyed counsel and irresistible attraction, and every scene she enters quietly reroutes the plot.

## In the story

### [II: Second Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/ii-second-adventure)

Mentioned as having fled from Leeuwenhoek's confinement; Pepusch expresses his love for her and his determination to find her.

### [III: Third Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/iii-third-adventure)

Referred to as the fair Hollandress and niece of Leeuwenhoek; said to have fled to Swammer's protection.

### [IV: Fourth Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/iv-fourth-adventure)

Mentioned in Pepusch's jealous outburst as the object of his despair, having been seen in Peregrine's arms.

### [Fifth Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/v-fifth-adventure)

Snatched by George Pepusch, later revealed to be in the house with Mr. Swammer, dressing herself and expressing a wish for a tiny negro boy.

### [Sixth Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/vi-sixth-adventure)

Mentioned as the object of Peregrine's and Pepusch's desire; Peregrine pretends not to speak of her.

### [Seventh Adventure](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/chapters/vii-seventh-adventure)

Dressed in silver tissue, claims Peregrine as hers; Peregrine feels a cold shudder and suspects something lifeless in her; later found sitting stiff and corpse-like.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/characters/dortje_elverdink
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/master_flea_se/characters